The predominant theory of democracy, that of rational deliberation, is based on the presumption that there is a moral theory as a basis of normative validity of the decisions acquired in a process of rational deliberation. The individual who starts from the idea that he has to use rational means of persuasion will implicitly believe that the rational argument will be the only instrument of persuasion, a priori excluding force, coercion or manipulation from the space of the common living. In other words, the process of rational deliberation presumes an equality of positions in society, deriving from the symmetry of …